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Here's a brief background about Ronan Keating and his music. So, come on, learn more about the voice behind Boyzone and the former co-manager of Westlife!
Name: Ronan Patrick John Keating
Birthplace: Dublin, Republic Of Ireland
Birthday: Thursday 3rd March 1977
Starsign: Pisces
Role: Songwriter, solo and lead performer for Boyzone
Family: Wife, Yvonne with son, Jack and daughters, Marie and Alice. 3 older brothers: Gary, Gerard and Ciaran and an older sister, Linda
Pets: 4 dogs
Height: 1.78m (5ft 10in)
Place(s) of residence: Chelsea, London, UK & Kildare, Dublin, Republic Of Ireland
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| Ronan Keating was born into a middle-class setting in Dublin, Ireland on the 3rd March 1977. He was the youngest of five children. His father, Gerry worked as an owner of a pub and his mother, Marie was a hairdresser. The preliminary move into any future music career materialised when Keating took notice of an advertisement in a newspaper for auditions in search for the Irish equivalent of an all-male group similar to UK's Take That. At this time the year was 1993 and Keating was employed in a shoe retailer. And so, Ronan Keating pursued this audition. He faced competition from some 300 other contestants as keen as Keating to acquire a certain degree of musical fame, but Keating impressed judges through his performance of 'Father And Son' from famous singer-songwriter, Cat Stevens, and incidentally this song would be of great value later on in Keating's career.
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| The auditions in Dublin that Keating took part in would eventually lead to the formation of a new all-male group that would impact on the pop industry over the course of the next six years. That group was Boyzone. Originally formed in November 1993, as a six-member group comprising: Ronan Keating himself, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch, Richie Rock and Mark Walton, the group reshaped to be a fivesome with Rock and Walton replaced by new member, Mikey Graham.
Boyzone debuted with their first single 'Working My Way Back To You' in 1993. This failed to attract the pop audience and Boyzone had to wait for their next single in 1994, 'Love Me For A Reason' to make a difference striking the UK No.2 singles position. 'Father And Son' followed in the string of successful Boyzone singles. The Cat Stevens song which Keating had performed early on in his rise to fame was now a memorable Boyzone release. 'Words', the song famously written and performed by the Bee Gees won Boyzone's deserved UK No.1 singles position.
Boyzone went on to release No.1 albums: 'Said And Done', 'A Different Beat', 'Where We Belong' and the group's greatest hits album, '...By Request'.
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| In May 1997, Ronan Keating embarked on other work in the form of television presenting. This he did on the 'Eurovision Song Contest' of that year with co-host Carrie Crowley. Keating was also active in getting music hopefuls on the music scene in a television show, 'Get Your Act Together'. Other television work involved presenting 'Miss World' and the MTV Awards. Eventually, Keating felt that television work was no longer an interest.
April 1998 saw Keating marry Yvonne Connelly, a model from Ireland. Only earlier, Ronan took on a managerial role alongside Louis Walsh to co-manage a new all-male formation by the name, Westlife.
In 1999, Ronan became the first Boyzone member to head a solo challenge and released the distinctive 'When You Say Nothing At All' in 1999. This romantic ballad received special attention because of its feature in the big hit movie, 'Notting Hill' starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. But, Ronan had performed the song so well and established his capability to go solo. The big single reached the UK's No.1 singles position on its debut.
In March 1999, Ronan Keating became a father. He and Yvonne were delighted over the birth of their first child, a boy they called Jack.
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| It wasn't until 2000 that Ronan Keating was able to pursue a more sustained solo career. January and February of that year saw Keating spend time in both the UK and the USA recording new material for a forthcoming album. Originally, the debut solo album was to be titled 'Once Upon A Lifetime' but this changed to a more simpler but meaningful title, 'Ronan'. By mid-May of 2000 airplay of a new single by the name 'Life Is A Rollercoaster' was happening. The upbeat first single written by the former lead singer of the New Radicals, Gregg Alexander together with songwriter, Rick Nowels, from Ronan became an instant success. A week after its launch on the 10th July 2000, 'Life Is A Rollercoaster' scored a UK No.1 singles position. This was shortly followed by the eagerly awaited debut album which Keating was very nervous about but which finally demonstrated the solo excellence of Ronan Keating for it debuted at the UK No.1 album position. 'Ronan' featured the influences and collaborative work of big name artists: Bryan Adams and the Bee Gees. It was the Bee Gees that motivated Keating to take on songwriting on a personal basis.
Ronan Keating began taking on solo tours through the summer of 2000 with promotions in places from Europe to as far as the Far East. This he followed up with his debut UK and Ireland tour in an attempt to demonstrate his solo live performances to fans closer to home. By the end of 2000, Ronan Keating could be proud of a No.1 single, No.1 album, a special video/DVD concert recording, a completed and highly successful sell-out UK and Ireland tour and optimistic prospects for his solo career. 20th November 2000 saw Ronan release his second single, 'The Way You Make Me Feel'. This more mellow release debuted at No.6 in the UK singles chart but still retained the quality of Ronan's music and performance.
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| Into 2001, and Ronan Keating was thrilled with the birth of his second child, a daughter by the name of Marie, in February.
The start of 2001 saw the approach of a new fourth single and a second big UK and Ireland tour following the massive success of the first tour at the end of 2000. 'Lovin' Each Day' was released to the UK on the 16th April 2001. This new single not originally featured on the first 'Ronan' album release was performed to fans on Keating's first tour. Written by the same master songwriters, Gregg Alexander and Rick Nowels, who wrote Keating's debut single, 'Life Is A Rollercoaster' the new upbeat offering lived up to expectations and scored successfully becoming a UK No.2 single on its debut. The new single was bundled onto a re-release of 'Ronan' on the 23rd April 2001.
Throughout May 2001, Ronan won the praise of millions of fans on another massive sell-out tour. By now, Ronan Keating was definitely a household name in the pop business.
The goals for Ronan Keating by mid 2001 were much greater. They involved conquering the global music market and first stop was the USA. Keating had been busy promoting 'Lovin' Each Day' and 'Ronan' in the States in attempt to break the biggest world music market and finally establish world dominance. Prospects of a second studio album were also in the pipeline by then and involved much collaborative work from massive music artists including The Pogues lead singer, Shane MacGowan, Paul Brady and Cathy Dennis, as well dedicated work from Alexander and Nowels and Callum MacColl.
Towards the end of 2001, signs of a new single were on the horizon. There were many suggestions as to what was to be released but eventually all was known and the new release came by the name of 'If Tomorrow Never Comes', a cover of a song performed and co-written by famous country music star, Garth Brooks. This was in keeping with Ronan's own liking of Brooks' music. Brilliantly covered, Ronan demonstrated that his new material was well-received and this was proven when one week after the single's release on the 6th May 2002, it scored the UK No.1 singles position. Clearly, 'If Tomorrow Never Comes' represented new, fresh material which Ronan termed "a body of work" and one that he expressed he had invested in more personally. The new album that brings all this new material together is called 'Destination' and this includes songwriting contributions from Keating and also from Alexander and Nowels, plus other major songwriters such as Jeremy Godfrey and Bill Padley. 'Destination' was released on the 20th May 2002 and despite Ronan being nervous again on the eve of another album release, he need not fear for this second solo album reached the UK No.1 albums position and this undoubtedly represented an excellent progression in Keating's solo career in the right direction. 'Destination' includes songs which on the whole are comparatively more uplifting than his first album. Furthermore, many will be familiar with Keating's distinctive deep voice and so it will be interesting to note that he has perfectly changed his style of voice to suitably fit in with the songs he performs on the new album and this has certainly been noticed by many fans and close followers of Keating alike.
In June 2002, Ronan kicked off his Destination '02 Tour which would see him take on his first ever world tour! He started off in the UK and Ireland with sell out gigs! Later in July of that year, Ronan would make his first official tour visit to Australia and New Zealand meeting thousands of new fans who have learnt about his music. The month after in August, Ronan toured South Africa once again for the very first time. Ronan was to take a break from touring for now.
By September 2002, Ronan finally released his second single from the album entitled, 'I Love It When We Do' penned by the duo Gregg Alexander and Rick Nowells, it earned the position of number 5 in the UK singles chart, though on the border of the top 5, it still showed how much impact Ronan was still having with the fans and the most notable thing was the infamous dive Ronan had to perform for the single's promo video! The tour recommenced in Europe in October and during then Ronan had recorded several tunes with other singers, the first of those was with Lulu and hence the next single, 'We've Got Tonight', a cover of Bob Seger's tune, was released in November 2002 reaching number 4 in the singles chart. This proved yet again that Ronan was capable to providing fantastic tunes with other collaborators. He was to do it again with other singers including Jeanette Biedermann for the latter tune in Germany, Deborah Blando for 'When You Say Nothing At All' in Brazil and Cécilia Cara for 'Je T'aime Plus Que Tout' which was a special French version of the hit, 'I Love It When We Do'.
Into 2003 and Ronan started off touring in Asia visiting the unlikeliest of places including the Middle East and of course the Far East where many of the fans would have known him from Boyzone. Ronan was to release his first penned tune with Paul Brady. 'The Long Goodbye' finally got what it deserved and that was a single release on 28th April 2003 which proved yet another hit for Ronan entering the number 3 position in the UK charts. Later in May and June of 2003, Ronan embarked on a charity walk in Ireland from north to south covering over 300 miles. This he done with success and raised money for Action Cancer in Northern Ireland and the Marie Keating Foundation in Ireland.
In November 2003, Ronan was back with brand new material with another self-penned track, 'Lost For Words' which was completely different to previous material Ronan had covered. Although it entered at number 9 it still was a fantastic track. In line with this release, Ronan released his third album titled, 'Turn It On'. This album marked for the first time an album mostly written by Ronan including some covers like the Terence Trent D'Arby song, 'Let Her Down Easy' but also included songs which were personal to Ronan himself including, 'First Time' dedicated to his wife, Yvonne and 'This Is Your Song' in memory of his mother, Marie. The album was received with good reception from the fans. Into 2004 and Ronan was back in at the top of the charts with the release of a cover of Kenny Rogers tune, 'She Believes (In Me)' which went straight in at number 2 in February of that year. The song was originally about a failed songwriter, but Ronan along with Paul Barry changed some of the lyrics to make it into a love song.
In April 2004, Ronan was reunited with the boys from Boyzone to support their bandmate Shane Lynch in the reality TV show, 'The Games'. Not long after did they come together to play golf for charity. The next single released in May 2004, 'Last Thing On My Mind' was a song done in duet with US country singer, LeAnn Rimes going straight in at number 5. This release also featured on LeAnn Rimes greatest hits album. Since then, Ronan has made surprise appearances live with LeAnn to duet with this fantastic release. Ronan spent the summer performing at live events including some Party In The Park in Kent and Birmingham. He also set aside to do some charity work.
Into autumn of 2004 and Ronan was to release a brand new single. The song, 'I Hope You Dance', a cover of Lee Ann Womack's tune was released in September 2004 and entered the number 2 position. All proceeds from the single sold in ASDA supermarkets went to Breast Cancer Care which Ronan sponsored for this release. This was followed by the October release of Ronan's Greatest Hits album, '10 Years Of Hits'. This album celebrates ten years of music and included all the hits released by Ronan so far plus a few Boyzone favourites. The album went straight in at number 1 position in the UK albums chart. In line with this, Ronan was awarded a Guinness Hit Single Award for being the only recording artist to obtain 30 consecutive top 10 hits - 16 with Boyzone, 12 as a solo artist and 2 as charity singles. A remarkable achievement and a fantastic solo career start with a run of top 10 hits.
Speculation arrived that Ronan was going to release a single in time for Christmas. But eventually truth was revealed and on 13th December 2004, 'Father And Son' was released featuring vocals from Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens. It became the UK Christmas Number 2 and all proceeds went to Band Aid Trust with the Band Aid 20 version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' becoming the Christmas Number 1. Ronan ended the year with a successful UK and Ireland tour celebrating his 10 years of hits which included favourites among the fans who attended.
It has been a very good year for Ronan and with 2005 on the way, Ronan is sure to be back with new material and some greater and bigger things...but with 18 million records sold worldwide, there's one thing for sure, Ronan is here to stay and will perform as long as the fans are there to keep supporting him.
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| In a matter of ten years, Ronan Keating has climbed the ladder to reach heights of excellence in the music industry. From answering the call to a hopeful music career through auditions in Dublin, through the highs and big successes of his boyband collaboration in Boyzone, through to a massive solo career and two No.1 albums, Ronan Keating has proved to be a remarkable solo artist of our times and will undoubtedly become a worldwide success and a key figure in the music business.
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<Back to the Home page
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| Ronan in the younger days |
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| Cat Stevens |
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| Boyzone |
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| 'Love Me For A Reason' |
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| Bee Gees |
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| Westlife |
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| 'When You Say Nothing At All' |
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| 'Notting Hill' |
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| 'Life Is A Rollercoaster' |
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| 'Ronan' |
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| Ronan performs live |
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| 'Lovin' Each Day' |
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| 'If Tomorrow Never Comes' |
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| Garth Brooks |
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| 'Destination' |
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| 'Turn It On' |
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| 'She Believes (In Me)' |
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| LeAnn Rimes |
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| '10 Years Of Hits' |
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| Yusuf Islam |
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